


Those Old Familiar Places

by Viridian5



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Drama, Kidnapping, M/M, Weirdness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-01-21
Updated: 1999-01-21
Packaged: 2017-10-02 07:25:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridian5/pseuds/Viridian5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulder and Krycek face déjà vu over and over again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those Old Familiar Places

**Author's Note:**

> _Really_ vague spoilers for "Little Green Men," "Drive," and "Terms of Endearment."
> 
> This story is for Karen, who won my nick-fixx e-mail list mini-contest New Year's Day morning by providing the name of the M/K fic that was the source of the snippet Microsoft Word had spliced into my _Once a Thief_ story, "[Working Together](http://archiveofourown.org/en/works/3995)." Alicia's story will be coming soon. As third, Lynda (Aqualegia) gets a mention here.
> 
> Karen wanted "M/K, an abandoned mineshaft, aliens (dead or alive, but not shapeshifters), and the Honolulu airport." When I mentioned Carbondale, PA as a location while writing this, she went browsing and found a site with information she said I had to see... Thus, I chose the town as the main setting _before_ I found out about the Carbondale UFO cover-up (?) at <http://www.cseti.com/crashes/crash90.htm>
> 
> Thanks to Te for some shaping suggestions. Thanks to Orithain for beta.

"C'mon, Mulder, time to wake up."

Mulder burrowed a little deeper into the warmth near him and tried to float back under into sleep. He so rarely felt relaxed and at peace, and he wanted to go back there. Besides, it had been a long time since that voice had greeted him as he woke up, so it had to be a dream. Alex had long ago been replaced by Krycek, betrayer and murderer. Having Alex back would make it a very nice dream, and maybe if he stayed under long enough Alex would start doing the other things his partner used to do to wake him up.

"Wakey-wakey."

The hand that had been stroking his hair slid down to his cheek, then slapped him hard. Shocked awake, Mulder jerked away and hit his head on the nearby wall. "What?"

Krycek smirked at him. "Get up. We're here."

Wherever the hell "here" was. Mulder remembered leaving work for the evening, then nothing. He currently seemed to be on a very small plane. //What the hell did he do to me? At least it looks like it's still night out. I just hope it's the same night.//

Krycek stood and stretched. "We've just landed at a small airport in Pennsylvania somewhere between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. You won't find out anything if you stay on the plane. Besides, two thugs are waiting outside to drag you out. Trying to take me hostage won't help you much because they don't really like me either."

Mulder decided to play along. Krycek could be helpful on occasion. "Does anyone like you?" He stood. "It's so hard to find good help."

It took an effort to calm himself. The very sight of Krycek tended to inspire an almost homicidal rage, but he could get far more from his former partner by seeming reasonable and compliant. He could always fly off the handle later.

"It's a shame I can't just kill them. Come with me."

The two thugs waited outside next to a beat-up Ford Escort. One opened the door for Krycek but gave him such a look that Mulder figured the gunman would put a knife in the other man's back as soon as the opportunity arose. Krycek just grinned. The other thug grabbed Mulder by the arm and deposited him in the front passenger seat.

"They want status reports, Krycek, and they won't take excuses."

"They'll get what they want. And if they don't, that would make you very happy, wouldn't it?"

The thug just smiled. "Have a nice trip."

As they drove away, Mulder felt all his questions trying to break loose in a flood but, thinking that would only amuse Krycek, he decided to ration them out, choosing the right time and place for each. But when Krycek stopped the car at the side of the road only two miles later, Mulder had to ask, "What are you--"

Krycek took a small machine out of his jacket pocket and said, "Come out here." It soon became apparent that Krycek was searching for bugs. By the time he was done ten minutes later, he had five bugs in his hand. He threw them down in front of a front tire and ran them over, then backed over them, then ran over them again as they drove away.

"What the hell is going on?" Mulder asked.

"They had a very stupid plan. They wanted me to kidnap you, take you to a certain location, and let you escape. At that point, you'd see what they wanted you to see and make the conclusions they wanted you to make. They don't have a hell of a lot of regard for your intelligence, I guess." His hand tightened on the wheel. "I don't have any patience for stupidity. It's not my responsibility to make impossible plans work. So I'll take you there and let you see what they want you to. As far as I'm concerned, that'll mean I did my job."

Whenever Krycek became excessively helpful, Mulder got nervous. That didn't mean he couldn't take advantage of Krycek's talkative mood, though. "Is it still Friday?"

"Yeah, you weren't out that long. It's 9 o'clock."

"Where are we going?"

"A Carbondale mineshaft. Carbondale is on top of ground riddled with them, and only old wooden beams are keeping it from collapsing in. Occasionally a sinkhole would open and swallow a house whole." Krycek smiled. "That would be interesting to see."

Mulder had to look away. Memories of long-ago stakeouts surfaced unwillingly anyway. Back then they'd had odd, rambling conversations to pass the time, and Alex had shown a knowledge of bizarre facts that had almost rivaled his own.

"Carbondale was also the location for a UFO sighting November 9, 1974."

"Really." Krycek's voice sounded cold, amused, and challenging all at once.

It was thought that an intact UFO had landed in a silt pond next to Carbondale's Russell Park. Other eyewitnesses had said they saw a light flying through the sky, but 3 teenage boys had followed it to its landing and seen something glowing under the water. Eyewitnesses had claimed the light had actually moved when the local authorities had shot at it. The official story was that it was a submerged lit lantern, which had been hauled up the next afternoon in front of witnesses.

Many believed that people working for the government had covertly removed and transported it out of town under the cover of night with the aid of the local authorities, who'd helped cover it up. Some thought that the omission of the Carbondale sighting from the current run of UFO revelations only assisted in making and clinching claims of the event's importance.

"Is what we're going to see related to that sighting?" //Damn Krycek for knowing how to hook me.//

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. I'm just their chauffeur and errand boy."

Mulder took note of how dead and carefully drained of emotion Krycek's voice sounded. Neither of them said anything else for a while until Krycek asked, "What do they have you doing now?"

"What?"

"I know they gave the X-Files to Spender and your old squeeze, so what are you working on now? I heard you were checking out shit for a while."

"I was investigating possible terrorist activity."

"Only if the terrorists were cows."

Mulder sighed. "I'm doing background checks now."

Krycek smirked. "Are you getting nostalgic for your wire tap days yet?"

"They want to break me. I won't let them."

"Good for you." It didn't sound as sarcastic as it could have. "By the way, I took your cell phone. You won't be calling Scully. She's too damned good at finding you."

Eventually they started to drive through the town itself. Mulder frowned at the sight of ancient Mom `n' Pop stores uneasily coexisting with franchises that looked exactly the same here as they did everywhere else. To Mulder's surprise, Krycek said, "It's called `progress,' Mulder. Live with it."

//I didn't say anything. How did he--// "It's destroying the character of the town. The country is being homogenized by franchise clones into one bright, crappy, neon eyesore, and we're taking them overseas too."

"'Character' is what narrow-minded snobs who've lived in one place all their lives and are stupidly proud of that fact talk about. People aren't bound to one place anymore, and it's comforting to have something familiar. Then they can branch out into the area's unique artifacts." Krycek glanced over. "You should know. It's not like you stayed in New England."

"But people don't do that. They eat shitty fast food instead of seeing what else is out there."

"Then people are stupid and deserve what they get."

//So simple.// "Something important is getting lost."

"Then maybe it wasn't that important after all. Welcome to globalization. Things change, Mulder."

Mulder got lost in echoes of the past again, old discussions in a more innocent time. He was also remembering why he usually hit Krycek and kept their conversations brief and confined to business. Listening to his former partner talk about mundane things, just like old times, hurt too much.

Krycek the rat bastard was so much easier to deal with than Krycek-who-used-to-be-Alex.

"Yeah, things change." //But, sometimes, not enough.//

Krycek gave him a thoughtful look and went quiet again. They drove through town for a while, then Krycek turned them onto a rough dirt road. Mulder braced himself against the bumps, but still kept hitting his shoulder against the door. He was starting to find the silence as uncomfortable as the discussions, but he was afraid to break it, afraid of what he'd say. //Afraid of what Ale-- Krycek would say.//

Finally they could drive no further, and Krycek stopped the car. "We have to walk from here. You'll have to hold the flashlight, because I want to be able to go for my gun. You can find it on the backseat."

Fortunately, Mulder managed to stop his original stupid question, "You're expecting trouble?" from passing his lips. Instead he asked, "Why don't we do this by day?"

"We're on a timetable. Come on." Krycek put a smaller flashlight in his jacket pocket and started to walk, never once looking behind. He must have been using the moonlight.

//Arrogant bastard.// Mulder had realized during the ride that he still had his gun, and Krycek had to be aware of it. He could easily put a bullet in that proud back right now.

Instead, Mulder picked up the large flashlight, so like the one he usually used, turned it on, and followed.

Mulder had always enjoyed hiking, but that had been on carefully prepared paths, with only enough wildness left to them to satisfy hikers' idea of nature without providing the usual accompanying difficulties. This steep hill with its holes and loose stones quickly showed him the stupidity of wandering the wilds in a suit and dress shoes. His ankles kept turning as he slid or stepped wrong. His trench coat occasionally caught on some brush.

By contrast, Krycek moved cleanly, softly, and gracefully ahead of him. The loss of an arm should have skewed his balance, but he had apparently compensated. His Timberline lumberjack boots //Expensive; his masters must pay, or at least dress, him well// handled the terrain much better than Mulder's shoes.

Mulder tried not to think of the things Krycek did for their pay. He especially tried not to think that sexual favors were involved, but he couldn't get the dirty images out of his mind. //You're not having enough trouble walking, you idiot?//

Eventually he fell into a kind of trance, into the rhythm of each step following the last and the pleasant exertion of muscles working as they should. He felt almost companionable with Krycek. The brisk night air seared his nose and throat, but it was a good burn that reminded him he was alive. He felt a sudden odd urge to howl at the sickle moon but stifled it.

They reached the chain link fence too soon. Krycek nodded his head at the sledgehammer lying nearby. "See, they were expecting you."

"Can't you just pick the lock?"

"Can you? You're the one who's supposed to be breaking in all by himself."

Mulder sighed, picked up the sledgehammer, and swung. The lock broke on the second try.

The mineshaft entrance had been boarded over, but it took only a little effort to pry them away. As Mulder started to walk in, he noticed that Krycek didn't follow. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not supposed to go in."

"When has that ever stopped you from doing anything?"

"I'm sure they've done everything short of putting up signs to tell you where they want you to go. They _want_ you to find the whatever it is. You'll be fine. I'll be guarding the entrance."

"This is a trap, isn't it?"

"No."

"Then go in with me."

"I can't, but that doesn't make it a trap." Krycek obviously didn't intend to get any closer, and nothing would change his mind.

As usual, curiosity overcame Mulder's prudence, what little of it he had. He cast one last look over his shoulder, then walked in. In the light of his flashlight, the walls gleamed with bits of shiny black. The farther down he went--and he could tell he was descending--the more he saw the occasional wooden beam, as Krycek had mentioned, propping up the ceiling. He tried not to let that scare him. He also tried not to think of giant beasts that had never seen the light of day gnawing through the earth, a stupid fancy that only made his heart pound despite its ridiculousness.

He wandered through an abandoned coal mine shut up for who knew how long, but the air didn't smell as stale as it should have. It felt as if something circulated fresh oxygen in. All outbranchings of the tunnel had been closed up. He was being led.

As he walked for what seemed like ages, he occasionally looked back to see if Krycek had followed. Every time, he was disappointed. //_Not_ "disappointed." Surprised, maybe.//

Then he came to an area that had metal cabinets lining the walls all the way up to the ceiling. //Much better than those old wooden beams.// When he pushed one of the buttons, a long drawer popped out to reveal a large cylinder shrouded in a rime of ice. He scratched the frost away and revealed the large gray head of the container's occupant. A few more pushed buttons revealed the same thing.

//So why do they want me to see a facility that holds gray aliens in suspended animation?//

******************************************************

Alex wondered if Mulder had found the site yet but refused to let himself think about the agent wandering through those tunnels so far underground. It was stupid and weak, but he'd started to suffer from claustrophobia after his stay in the silo. He still did what he needed to do, but if he had a choice, he wouldn't open himself to the physical phobic reactions that plagued him. No matter how stupid he told himself he was being, his heart would still start to speed up, the panic would try to strangle him, and it would get harder to breathe. No matter what his conscious mind said, some part of him expected to be closed away and _crushed_... Keeping Mulder company in one of those fragile subterranean shafts didn't constitute his idea of necessary exposure.

It was better off this way anyway. He never should have let Mulder sleep against his shoulder, but he hadn't been able to help himself. Most people looked slack, empty, when drugged, but Mulder looked sweet, angelic, at peace, as if drugs helped him attain some higher state of being. He didn't even drool. Alex had wanted to--

Never mind what he'd wanted to do; he'd successfully resisted all of his urges. But then they'd actually _talked_ a few times in the car, as if they were just two people who knew one another pretty well, as if the last few years hadn't happened.

Wanting to fuck Mulder blind was understandable. Still feeling affection for him... that was dangerous.

Alex suddenly realized that he was being surrounded. These people knew the area well enough to close in almost silently on him.

He had only one place he could go.

Taking a deep breath, he ran into the mineshaft.

******************************************************

Mulder was wondering what lesson he should learn from all this and wondering if he could find something he could carry out as evidence when he heard someone running toward him. He drew his gun and slipped behind a cabinet for cover, but he thought it would probably be Krycek. Someone out to kill him would try to slip in quieter.

The run had turned Krycek's voice huskier. "We have company coming. Lots of them. We could never gun them all down, so we have to run."

Mulder tried not to notice the accelerated rise and fall of Krycek's chest. "I guess talking to them is out of the question. Is there another way out?"

"I don't know. I wasn't supposed to be in here, remember?"

Mulder and Krycek both turned as they heard the footsteps, the pace steadily increasing. They started to run. They heard the bullets fly, singing at them, from behind and kept on going. They were soon in a more mundane part of the mine, well away from the cabinets. Mulder desperately searched for a place to go to ground and hide so they wouldn't be taken down when they eventually became too tired to run but saw nothing he could use. They kept on going, with their pursuers firing right behind them.

Then Mulder heard a sharp crack followed by a low, deep rumble. He turned and watched as an ancient beam snapped from getting hit by a few too many bullets. When another beam buckled under the increased pressure, the roof started to cave in. And Krycek stared, eyes wide, mouth open, frozen. Mulder could swear he _saw_ his former partner's heart pounding.

Mulder grabbed Krycek's wrist and started to pull. "Come on!" Krycek snapped out of whatever trance he'd fallen into and started to move. Fortunately, they had been far enough ahead of it that they didn't get crushed, though the force of the collapse threw them forward. They hit the ground and rolled until a wall stopped them.

Once the ringing in his head started to subside, Mulder slowly got up. Krycek already stood and grinned like a maniac. He stared at the jumbled ruins of a house, chunks of lawn and flowerbeds, a swingset, and three trees. And, above it all, the night sky, which seemed to be the most beautiful thing Krycek had ever seen.

"Wonder if we could climb out?" Krycek asked.

"There could be people in there!"

"They're dead now."

"They might not be. We have to get them help."

Mulder doubted he'd be able to dig them out, but maybe Krycek had taken his cell phone along, and they could call for help. He mustered his best puppy dog look but was also prepared to wrestle Krycek to the ground to claim his phone. His former partner sighed, then handed it over willingly.

"Do you even know what the address is, asshole?"

"Sure. It's written on a plaque on the door." Which was eight feet away from its frame.

Mulder called 911 and gave them the information about a sinkhole without mentioning gunmen or aliens. //In most towns, authorities would think I was prank calling if I said anything about a house being swallowed up.//

Krycek was all but bouncing as he waited. It was kind of cute. //Remember the way he dismissed the people in the house. But he gave me the phone...//

Mulder was suddenly certain there was something behind him. He saw a bright light--

******************************************************

"_That_ was a total fuck-up."

"It seems our Alex has talent for taking the most simple plans and making them into fiascoes."

"'Simple'? The plan was flawed."

Alex squinted against the light and tried to fight against the weight that dragged at his body. He managed to turn his head in what would appear to be a random way to anyone watching until he saw Mulder, who appeared to be completely out of it, lying on a nearby table. The blinding brilliance rendered the other people in the room into silhouettes.

"Who were those people?"

"We don't know; the landslide buried them completely."

"Another thing we'll have to cover-up. Fortunately, it was late at night with no witnesses, and no one in the house survived."

"What now?"

"Not even our allies can be selective enough to erase only the memories we want excised. They'll have to remove most of the last few hours from Mulder's mind. It's a shame, but I can't see any other way."

//After I went to all that trouble? Like hell!// Alex tried to regain control of his body, but it felt dead.

"After all the editing they've already done on him, it'll be easy."

"And Krycek?"

"Similar. Once they've been processed, they won't remember a thing, and they'll be too distracted to want to remember."

"If we do this right, we may even take some advantages from this. A renewed bond between Mulder and our operative could be useful." The shadow leaned in closer. "But you won't remember any of this, Krycek."

Shit. //Leave me al--//

******************************************************

Alex woke up feeling wonderful without knowing why. He also had no clue where the hell he and Mulder were, although they had obviously been moved out of the mine. //Irony. This started by me knocking him out and dragging him elsewhere. I guess someone liked the idea.// They sat in what looked like a fairly generic airport, but a large number of the people walking by wore leis... //Can't be... but wouldn't that be a kick?// Alex still had his gun, and a longer than strictly necessary search of Mulder's sleeping body revealed that the agent had his as well.

Attempts to wonder who'd put them here kept getting drowned out by the cleanest, purest high Alex had ever experienced. //This isn't the usual cheating-death high. This is one hundred times better.// He felt like he could beat the world one-handed. //Well...//

It was wrong, unnatural. No one made you feel good unless they wanted something.

Alex tried to come down a bit. He studied the vision of his worst fears of his claustrophobia coming true and almost crushing him. Although he could still feel the terror inside him somewhere, it was as if it had been trapped under glass, unable to threaten him at all. //I got out just fine, and that was one hell of a thing to see.// He flung the sight of Mulder, looking miserable and betrayed, into his mind's eye. //But I can still win him over again. He wants me so badly.// Mulder had his head resting against Alex's shoulder and murmured contentedly, looking utterly relaxed. //He doesn't look miserable right now.// His head felt so damned heavy, but Alex didn't shift him. Every movement created an answering tremor in Alex's cock, and Mulder seemed to be in a similar condition.

Alex watched the passersby drift past until he saw someone he thought he could ask questions of. He wanted someone friendly looking, but not too friendly since he didn't want to hear anyone's life story. Someone who looked organized and knowledgeable. The one he chose also suggested a number of good qualities for looking approachable but wary and not wearing a lei.

"Excuse me, miss? Could you help me?" //Damn. Having a surreal time; wish I were here. Don't giggle, Alex.

//There are people wearing _leis_...//

The young woman turned, smiled, and stopped. She had a suitcase and bag neatly fastened to a small, wheeled dolly. "Yes?"

"My friend and I have been traveling forever. We've had so damned many stopovers that we don't know what airport we're in or even what the day is anymore."

"You're at Honolulu International Airport." She looked at her watch. "At 7 o'clock on Saturday morning. Anything else?"

"No, that's great. Thanks."

"Have a good day," she said as she walked away.

If more people were that helpful, he wouldn't have to kill so many.

Alex started to grin even wider. He couldn't help himself. Hawaii?

Mulder slowly woke up and pulled away. He had a beautiful, elated smile, as if he floated on the world's best high too. Then he came fully awake with a jolt and asked, "Where the hell are we?"

"Honolulu."

"Hono-- Hawaii, Honolulu? Shit."

"It could be worse. We could be dead or strapped to a vivisection table."

"We left with nothing."

"We got a one-way trip to Hawaii."

Mulder pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't get any evidence, and this... teleportation or whatever it was will make it hard for anyone to believe anything I say."

"But you're used to that." Alex put his head on Mulder's shoulder and rubbed his spiky hair into an unprotected neck.

Mulder shook his head in a very odd way and asked, "What the hell was I talking about?" His confusion soon turned back into his earlier euphoria. He all but glowed.

"I don't know." There _had_ been something, but it slipped through Alex's fingers like wisps of smoke, leaving only a faint cloudiness behind. The harder he tried to grab it, the faster it fled. He just knew he had Mulder here and in a good, accommodating mood.

"It must not have been that important."

"We're alive and in a tropical paradise. It would be a _sin_ to go right back."

"Sin, hunh?"

"Besides, you're an FBI agent. I'm not letting you go home until you investigate me." //This is a _bad_ idea. He's not himself, and he'll hate himself for this later. _You're_ not yourself. There will be _angst_, and you hate angst. In addition to accusations, denials, and protests. This can't last. Do the sensible thing.//

Then Mulder decided the question by closing his eyes and leaning in a little to let his own head rest atop Alex's, before starting to rub a bit. "Really. And what would that entail?" His voice had dropped to a low purr.

Sense disappeared. "We just got free of aliens."

"Aliens?"

//I'm sure we did... didn't we?// "We have to check one another for implants. Inside and out." He started to investigate the elegant curve of Mulder's neck with his lips while his hand went to the bulge in his former partner's pants. "As many times as it takes."

"Not in public," Mulder muttered.

"Too embarrassed?"

"Afraid they'd try to stop us."

Alex's cock leapt at the sound of Mulder's voice and the words it said. The rest of him didn't waste any time either. //This can't last, but now would be just fine...// Once they finally located a men's room, Alex all but flung Mulder into a stall. //I'm glad it's so damned early. It might ruin his mood if I had to shoot some witnesses to get us privacy.// He ached for this man, and he needed release. Now.

//Then again, with how responsive he is right now, maybe he wouldn't care. Maybe it would only heighten his lust. It's making _me_ harder just thinking about it.//

While Mulder made sure there weren't any implants on Alex's teeth, his hands also checked their flies for the same. Alex's hand slid over his ass and down, kneading and pressing, teasing. Mulder's hands roamed over the flesh beneath them like an invading army. Their movements were rough and frenzied, but that was how they both wanted it. This time.

"We don't have anything for--" Mulder gasped.

"I do." //Thank God I always come prepared.// "Fuck me, Mulder. It's been so long."

They only wasted a little time on preparation--Alex didn't think he could be any more prepared--before Mulder slid in and started to move, thrusting hard. It was like being fucked by a hurricane, but he still shouted for more, still wanted more. He was alive and free and being reamed by someone he'd never thought he'd even have the chance to touch again. Mulder's long fingers stroked his cock just the way he wanted //He remembered...//, while succulent lips and sharp teeth left their marks on his neck. He came hard with a deep, strangled moan, and felt Mulder convulse behind him.

"I don't think that was thorough enough," Mulder finally said, his voice husky, as he pulled out.

Alex turned to face him. //He wants more. It looks like he _needs_ more. Good.// "I don't think the light in here is good enough. I think we need some sun." //Some sun, some sand, some drinks, the two of us losing ourselves in one another over and over...//

Sooner or later, Mulder would return to his senses, and it would all be over. Alex would grab what he could get.

"I didn't find anything this time."

Alex tongued Mulder's ear. "Then we do this as many times as it takes. We have to."

Mulder shuddered and became almost boneless in Alex's arms. "As many times as it takes," Mulder agreed.

### End


End file.
